Men's Basketball

Indiana, Kansas, Duke each place two players on Naismith award list of 30

ATLANTA -- Indiana junior Victor Oladipo and sophomore Cody Zeller headline the list of top-30 candidates for the 2013 Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year award presented by AT&T, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced Tuesday. A win for one of the two Hoosiers, who have been highly ranked all season, would be the first in 20 years for Indiana, since Calbert Cheaney in 1993. Prior to Cheaney, Scott May won the award in 1976.

Kansas (Ben McLemore, Jeff Withey) and Duke (Seth Curry, Mason Plumlee) join Indiana with two candidates each on the top-30 list. Creighton junior Doug McDermott, a 2012 Naismith Trophy finalist, once again is among the elite players in the race to be named the best player in men’s college basketball.

The top-30 candidates were selected by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances to this point in the season. In late March, the Naismith Trophy voting academy will narrow down the list to four finalists. The Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year will be awarded on April 7, 2013, in Atlanta.

For the ninth consecutive year, fans will have the opportunity to text their votes for the player of their choice and help determine the 2013 Naismith Trophy winner. Voting will open to fans on March 25. Presenting sponsor AT&T is making the voting open to other wireless carriers, enabling even more fans to participate.

Other notable Naismith Trophy alumni include a pair of three-time winners in Bill Walton (1972, '73, '74) and Ralph Sampson (1981, '82, '83), Michael Jordan (1984), Kevin Durant (2007) and last year’s winner, Anthony Davis of Kentucky. The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball’s best player.